The Crazy Hunter by Kay Boyle

A rediscovered Modernist gem: a lushly written short novel of roiling family tension on an English farm, back in print for the first time in decades __________ 'The Crazy Hunter is the story closest to perfection that I have ever read' Katherine Anne Porter 'Few writers have been more skilled at conveying an underlying emotional violence imperfectly concealed by the conventional politenesses' Margaret Atwood __________ At 17, Nan wants to leave the family farm and go to study. Caught between her powerful mother and yielding, drunken father, she absorbs the tensions of their divided household and dotes on her new gelding, a gift from her father. When a sudden accident leaves the horse blind, Nan's mother insists he must be put down, initiating a power struggle that brings the family's conflicts explosively to the fore. First published in 1938, The Crazy Hunter is an electrifying short novel-sharply observed, psychologically astute and morally complex. Written in lush, entrancing prose, it is the finest work by a significant modernist writer.